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A police boss, who sold off a valuable force number plate to a former Chief Constable, is facing an official investigation, after a businessman claimed his offer to pay almost twice as much, was ignored.

Indepedent experts estimated that the plate, which is one of the most sought after in the country, could be worth more than half a million pounds.

But just two working days after a national advertisement appeared in the Daily Telegraph, offering the plate for sale, Mr Campion's office accepted a bid of £160,000 from Paul West, a former Chief Constable of the force who retired in 2011.

Mr Campion, who as the elected PCC controls the purse strings for the force, insisted the sale had been handled in an entirely proper way, with the plate being been sold to the highest bidder.

But now the Independent Police Complaints Commssion (IPCC) has been asked to investigate, after successful businessman, Tim Brookes, claimed he had offered to pay in excess of £300,000, but had his bid rejected.

A spokesman for the IPCC confirmed they had received a referral on the matter and were assessing whether any criminal offence had taken place.

The taxpayers contributing to the West Mercia police budget have been materially disadvantaged by the actions of the Commissioner

Mr Brookes, a chartered accountant, who has served on the boards of a number of leading companies, said he had coveted the plate for many years and so was delighted when he discovered it was on the market.

He said: "I had had my eye on AB1 for more than 30-years. It is my wife's initials and so when I saw it advertised in the Daily Telegraph on July 15th I immediately contactes, Brightwells, the dealer that was handling the sale and expressed my interest.

"I was told they were inviting offers based on a guide price of £250,000. I explained that I was going on holiday to Portugal, but would make a offer once I had returned. As the process had only just begun I did not imagine there was any immediate urgency.

"However on July 19th, just two working days later, Brightwells contacted me to say that the plate was no longer available as it had been sold privately. I was furious to discover that the plate had been sold within two days and instructed the agent to pass on my opening bid of £305,000 to West Mercia, which they did.

"It was only afterwards that I discovered to my horror that Mr Campion had agreed to sell the plate to the former Chief Constable for £160,000 two days after the advertisement had first appeared."

Documents show that the paperwork finalising the sale, was not completed until August 8, more than two weeks after Mr Brooke had communicated his much higher offer.

Mr Brooke has now lodged a formal complaint about the way the process has been handled which has been referred to the IPCC.

Mr Campion was already under fire over his decision to sell the plate, with many serving and retired officers, accusing him of selling off the "family jewels".

But he justified the decision to sell the much cherished plate, stressing that funds from the valuable asset could be put to better use helping to pay for much needed front-line services.

Mr West, who served as Chief Constable between 2003 and 2011, said he bought the plate because of his personal connection to it and struck a deal to purchase it privately - rather than through Brightwells - in order to ensure the force did not have to pay any costly commission.

There is no suggestion he has acted inappropriately during the sale and has pledged that it will not be sold in his lifetime.

A spokesman for Mr Campion denied that the plate had been offered only two working days before the sale was completed, and said that advertisements had previously appeared in specialist auto publications. T

he spokesman said: “The registration was advertised and marketed for more than a month. Anybody was welcome to submit a bid during that period and it was sold to the highest bidder.

“It is unfortunate that individuals are now suggesting they would have offered a higher price, that they didn’t do so before the sale was agreed, as their offer would have been accepted if it were the highest. It is a nonsense to suggest that offers received after the sale had been agreed could be accepted.”

But Mr Brookes said there were serious questions over the way the sale had been handled and the fairest outcome would be for the plate to placed back on the market and for an open and transparent auction to begin again.

Mr Brookes told the Sunday Telegraph: "Not only was the sales process terminated within two days, meaning competing bids were not considered, but the sale was also made to a connected party.

"The taxpayers contributing to the West Mercia police budget have been materially disadvantaged by the actions of the Commissioner and I believe the authorities should now investigate whether he has committed any offence or has brought the office of Commissioner into disrepute.”